A
amerigoV
Guest
On the player not willing to play PHB only game:
I do not find it that surprising. 3.5 has been out for a long time with a lot of options. Consider the player options available:
Plus others I am sure.
"Ok, you can use this one book...." Even if you are not a power gamer, for some players you have cut out 80% of the options (granted that 80% is more specialized or deeper options of the core PHB). For a number of players making interesting builds is why they play D&D vs. less crunchy systems. This is especially so with 3.5, you can make exactly what you want if you purchased enough books
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IMO, D&D is part genre part rules. When you say "lets play D&D", that means more than just using a set of rules. While their experience varies (esp by edition), 3.5 was all about player options. That was its true mantra. To then say "lets play D&D, but only this book is allowed" will get you the same reaction from some as players as saying "lets play Star Wars without Jedi" - I mean, who would be silly enough to say that (sorry EotE, I could not resist)?
Plus, we do not know what the gaming options are for the player in question. Maybe they have a choice of groups - if so, why play in the group that you are not going to have fun in?
Really? Wow. I think your problems are more complex than presented!
Not really that surprising. You've got a power-gamer going up against an anti-power-gaming DM. There are some fundamental incompatibilities there!
Cheers!
I do not find it that surprising. 3.5 has been out for a long time with a lot of options. Consider the player options available:
- PHB
- PHB2
- Spell Compendium
- Magic Item Compendium
- Complete Warrior, Divine, Arcane, Adventurer, Mage, Champion, Scoundrel, Psionic
- Frostburn, Sandstorm, Stormwrack
- Book of Exalted Deeds
- Races of Stone, Destiny, The Wild, The Dragon
Plus others I am sure.
"Ok, you can use this one book...." Even if you are not a power gamer, for some players you have cut out 80% of the options (granted that 80% is more specialized or deeper options of the core PHB). For a number of players making interesting builds is why they play D&D vs. less crunchy systems. This is especially so with 3.5, you can make exactly what you want if you purchased enough books

IMO, D&D is part genre part rules. When you say "lets play D&D", that means more than just using a set of rules. While their experience varies (esp by edition), 3.5 was all about player options. That was its true mantra. To then say "lets play D&D, but only this book is allowed" will get you the same reaction from some as players as saying "lets play Star Wars without Jedi" - I mean, who would be silly enough to say that (sorry EotE, I could not resist)?
Plus, we do not know what the gaming options are for the player in question. Maybe they have a choice of groups - if so, why play in the group that you are not going to have fun in?